March One
by ro-iro38
Summary: A relatively short song fic about the passage of time and humans. EDITED


Hopefully this won't be much _that_ long, though the song is kinda long. It's called Casimir Pulaski Day by Sufjan Stevens. Nice and melancholic and songfic inspiring.

EDITED

* * *

_Golden rod and the 4-H stone _

_The things I brought you _

_When I found out you had cancer of the bone_

"Bone cancer...?"

As inappropriate as it was, Chihiro chuckled slightly and shook her head. His ignorance into the nature of humans could be so comical sometimes, even with dealing with something like this. It had fallen so lamely from his lips and at that moment, it had seemed like such an insignificant, fickle problem. It was almost like a two week bug that would have her irritable and moaning for a bit. Almost.

Chihiro suddenly sobered and gazed at her hands. "Cancer….is a disease that people sometimes get."

Haku stared at her with bated breath. He could sense that she was prepared to leave it at that, but somehow, but he wouldn't let her. "Finish it."

Sighing heavily, she blinked rapidly. "I have bone cancer. It is rare, but they can make it go away."

"And if they don't?" And the smile she gave him was heartbreaking in its simplicity, yet also in its magnanimous meaning.

* * *

_Your father cried on the telephone  
And he drove his car to the Navy yard  
Just to prove that he was sorry _

Sitting up against the hospital bed, Chihiro held her breath, suddenly unable to support the weight of the telephone in her frail hand. It fell onto her lap and Haku reached out to take the phone delicately from the sterile pillow of the blankets that fell over her lap. He knew more than enough about human contraptions to talk into the receiver, but somehow he felt as though Mr. Ogino would want to hear his voice least at the moment.

So he pressed that little orange button and placed the receiver back in its cradle. Now Chihiro could hear her father's heavy breathing. And she could feel his tears. "Dad? Dad."

He suddenly seemed to realize that she was still on the other line, as she heard a choked sound before his voice replied with a small acknowledgement. "Cancer."

"Yeah," she whispered, almost afraid that any loud noise would set him off. Haku suddenly rose and Chihiro heard a distinct click; he returned to his same seat no more than five seconds later and reached out, grasping her hand in his. "Dad…"

"I'm sorry."

"What? Dad, you have no reason—" Chihiro's voice was laced with confusion, her eyebrows knit together with the sadness that had permanently settled over her body within the last two weeks.

"Please forgive me." His usually strong voice was wavering so horribly and Chihiro could tell that he was about to break; an incurable guilt settled into her being. This was the tipping point for him; the line went dead and the loudness of the tone startled her violently. Haku quickly disabled the speakerphone and looked at Chihiro expectantly.

She was silent for a long time, and Haku almost considered unlocking the door, but immediately decided against it; she needed this time, no matter how long it took. When she finally did turn her face towards his, it was a beautiful, heartbreaking sight to behold. Her brown hair was slightly mussed around her head and the silvery tears shined on her face due to the sunlight. "He's gone," she whispered.

* * *

_In the morning through the window shade  
When the light pressed up against your shoulder blade  
I could see what you were reading _

_Oh the glory that the lord has made  
And the complications you could do without  
When I kissed you on the mouth_

Chihiro had chosen the machine closest to the window so that she could see the life outside. It distracted her from those things that pricked her arms and the uncomfortable tubing interweaved throughout her airways. Physics book propped open in her lap, Chihiro was grateful to see Haku sitting next to her. "Give me that."

Her lips spread into a rueful little grin and she shook her head, bits her brown hair falling into her face. "College slows down for no one!"

Haku frowned at her. "But _you_ will slow down."

Shrugging, she allowed him to take the book and set it to the side. Turning her gaze to the goings on outside. It was a sunny day and it was nearing the end of winter, signaling the coming of spring, her favorite time of year. "What do you think? Will I be detached from this death machine in time to enjoy the season?" She turned to regard him with a quirky little smile. The sun hit her face just so, illuminating the beauty that shone clearly through the sickness. Her brown hair, long had it lost its luster, was hidden beneath a scarf she'd arranged around her head comfortably before leaving her room that morning. Her skin was pale, though it held a lovely glow and her body was noticeably thinner.

Chihiro knew he was gazing at her, and that creeping feeling came back into her system; gazing out into a world of such beauty, it was hard for her to imagine how he could look at her far less than divine form against it. Those doubts swept away from her mind when he leaned forward and pressed a soft and sweet kiss to her lips. "I have a friend I could talk to," he murmured against her lips. She could do nothing but grin at the joke.

* * *

_Tuesday night at the bible study _

_We lift our hands and pray over your body  
But nothing ever happens_

He wished it was as easy as getting a spirit to delay the coming of spring. She sat against the window, her hand pressed against the cold glass. It was raining, and the temperature had dropped sharply, making it impossible for her to go down to the temple that day.

Soon after she'd come home to stay, she began this ritual, something, as Haku understood it anyway, that her mother had done before she'd died herself. There was at least one of these little temples everywhere, she'd told him, and getting there was never hard.

"What is there?" He'd asked her after the third time she'd gone.

Chihiro smiled brightly at him and shrugged a little. "Healing."

A little sore, Haku thought dismally that her mother had repeated the same ritual yet she'd died all the same. But that wasn't something he wanted to think for long and so he had banished the thoughts almost immediately.

He'd gone with her the next day, to that small little temple tucked way back away from the main road. It was peaceful, a peace unfound here in the human world. The monks had greeted Chihiro familiarly, and even seemed to know Haku as he trailed behind the woman with slight hesitation.

"We pray for Ms. Chihiro everyday. She's gotten better, no?"

* * *

_I remember at Michael's house  
In the living room when you kissed my neck  
And I almost touched your blouse _

_In the morning at the top of the stairs  
When your father found out what we did that night  
And you told me you were scared_

_Oh the glory when you ran outside  
With your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied  
And you told me not to follow you_

"My FATHER is here!" her sharp tone cut into him.

Haku blinked at her. "And?"

Chihiro wanted to hit him really, really hard at that moment. "And we can't do…" she gestured to their rumpled clothing. "_Those things_ right now!"

She backed away from him and tried to fix her clothing as best she knew how, retucking her shirt and retying that same blue scarf from so many chemotherapies ago…

Heavy clumping footsteps passed by the room and Chihiro turned wide, slightly desperate eyes to the dragon who was sitting on the bed unconcernedly. "Haku! Do something!"

"What?" he was confused as to what she meant by that.

"Oh Kami. If I could just…" her voice trailed off as she pressed her ear to the door and listened intently. Opening it a bit, she peeked out through the crack and slipped out only a second later. After a moment, Haku, too readjusted his clothing and exited the room.

A short sound distracted him from his destination, though and he turned to see her father looking at him with squinted eyes. They could say nothing to one another, only stare. It was an odd sensation that entered Haku's awareness as the huge man continued to stare him down. Suddenly, he understood what Chihiro had been saying earlier; Haku had never in his life been afraid of a human, but this recent encounter made him wary of one.

Haku had turned away first, ultimately, deciding that winning a staring contest was far less important than seeing where Chihiro had gotten to. She'd been very erratic as of late, something that worried him to no end.

"Chihiro?" His answer came in the form of a door slamming somewhere to his left. Eyes narrowing in suspicion, he stalked over to the door that led to the yard and stopped short when he saw Chihiro standing right in front of the screen on the other side, staring at him solemnly.

"Stay." She commanded softly. Pressing her hand against the screen, she scrutinized him for a moment before repeating the command again and turning to walk off to some unknown destination in the garden.

* * *

_Sunday night when I cleaned the house  
I find the card where you wrote it out  
With the pictures of your mother _

_On the floor at the great divide  
With my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied  
I am crying in the bathroom_

When he'd walked into her room, an aura of sadness and peace hit him like a huge rushing wave. It was after visiting hours, but the nurses always allowed the loved ones of cancer patients quite a bit of leeway. The room was as white and sterile and clean as always….except what seemed to him an overflow of photos spilling out of the album settled sideways on her lap. It took him only a second to recognize them.

"My favorite pictures of my mother," she explained once a long time ago. Most of them featured both females, but some were of Mrs. Ogino when she was no older than Chihiro was now.

Some of them were spilling onto the floor, and as Haku stooped to pick them up, he noticed a piece of paper bearing the scrawled handwriting he easily identified as Chihiro's.

_Thank you. This was the most beautiful spring…_

It said nothing more than those few simple words, but the gravity they held was immeasurable as Haku felt his heart twist in his chest. He didn't bother to gather the rest of the photos as he numbly made his way into the bathroom situated right near the bed. The tears came rapidly and he found his legs were unable to support his suddenly very heavy body. Wobbling for a second, Haku sunk back against the wall and buried his face in his hands, finally fully releasing the pain he'd been weighed down with for the past seven months.

* * *

_In the morning when you finally go  
And the nurse runs in with her head hung low  
And the cardinal hits the window _

_In the morning in the winter shade  
On the first of March on the holiday  
I thought I saw you breathing _

_Oh the glory that the lord has made  
And the complications when I see his face  
In the morning in the window _

He knew exactly when she'd gone. His head had been resting against her chest when the persistent beat of her heart stopped. The line went flat, and the nurse rushed in. Haku lifted his head slowly and turned to look at her with mournful eyes. "She's gone." He buried his face back in her chest, desperately seeking to hear her once constant heartbeat; he'd sworn that her chest had risen in the sunlight.

Pulling back from her chest, Haku wasn't aware that the nurse had finally gone, wasn't aware that they would allow them that peaceful moment void of chest compressions or life support machines. He'd missed the sympathetic look the nurse had given him as she closed the door, and even the slight sob that tore from his own throat.

As he looked up, Haku ran his hand along her cheek and smiled.

She'd taken off her scarf, the skin on her head smooth and pale. Her eyes were closed, but a small smile spread over her lips. Leaning down, he placed a lingering kiss against her lips one final time. "You're welcome, Chihiro."

* * *

_Oh the glory when he took our place  
But he took my shoulders and he shook my face  
And he takes and he takes and he takes

* * *

_

Ah, okay. So that one is finished, fully edited and all. And as much as I said I wouldn't, I think I WILL turn this into a ficlet series. I really enjoy reading them, and though I know it can become extremely overdone and tacky, I will stand as close to my originality as possible! Anywayz, the changes I made were minor, and were really more about me and my OCD than there being REAL mistakes present…thanks for reading and maybe another ficlet out by tonight…??


End file.
